Shower

ABSTRACT

A shower enclosure ( 10 ) comprising a tank ( 11, 12, 13 ) for holding a flushing fluid and an accessible space for drench-washing of personnel with the flushing fluid, wherein the enclosure is defined at least in part by at least one side wall of the tank ( 11, 12, 13 ).

This disclosure relates to self-contained or “free-standing” emergencydrench or deluge showers intended for use at sites where a mains supplyof water is not available.

BACKGROUND

Site safety requirements at quarries, mines, major excavations,construction sites, oil field pipelines, large chemical plants or thelike industrial sites where workers may be exposed to spillage ofbiological or chemical contaminants or hazardous materials, require thepresence of a walk-in water drench facility or deluge shower. Such afacility must be instantly accessible in any emergency and operateautomatically or with minimal action, such as using a pull switch, todeliver a drench of flushing fluid for a certain minimum period of time.The purpose of this facility is to rinse off any contaminants orhazardous materials from a worker who has suffered a spillage upon theperson as quickly and completely as possible.

Since the need for this safety measure is most often at a site where aguaranteed water supply cannot be economically installed, the mostcommonly used traditional designs rely on gravity feed of water from anoverhead elevated tank. Due to the need to operate for a minimum periodof time, it is important to have a reserve of sufficient water.Furthermore, in order to lessen the shock of a deluge or drench of waterupon a person, and to ensure that the person remains under the water foran adequate period to rinse off the contaminating hazardous material itis important that the water is neither too cold nor too hot. Thereforethere is also a requirement for the water to be “tepid” which makeswater temperature control an essential consideration.

Current regulations such as the ANSI standards and their equivalentsindicate that a suitable installation would be capable of delivering 75litres per minute of tepid water, for example in the range of about 16°C. to 25° C. for a minimum period of 15 minutes. Therefore, a source ofpower to heat that volume of water sufficiently has become necessary incold climates, or conversely in hot climates it may be necessary to coolthe water, for example by use of heat exchangers or other forced coolingmeans. Usually, the current designs of emergency drench shower requirelarge tanks accommodating up to about 2000 litres to be located over 2metres above the shower head.

Installing such a cumbersome facility provides logistical problemsincluding transport and on-site preparation for erection of thefacility. Typically, the site is found to be unsuitable for erection ofany structure, requiring the first step of installing a concrete base towhich the structure required can be fixed. Even if these difficultiesare overcome such a facility has a high centre of gravity makingstability in high winds a safety concern.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to a walk-in emergency shower enclosurehaving an accessible space for drench-washing of personnel with aflushing fluid, wherein the enclosure is defined at least in part by atleast one side wall of a tank for holding a flushing fluid. A suitableflushing fluid discharge unit, which may comprise a shower head, isprovided over the accessible space for drench washing of personnel witha flushing fluid.

An acceptable flushing fluid in accordance with ANSI standards would betepid or tempered potable water, or a preserved buffered saline or thelike physiologically benign fluid such as is used for medical purposes.The latter would normally be used for eye wash purposes. Therefore forthe purposes of drench washing, which requires high volumes to bedelivered, a potable water would be typically chosen but a preservedwater would be suitable also.

Broadly this disclosure relates to compact “wrap-around” tank designswherein a central accessible space is designed to accommodate a personrequiring emergency flushing of contaminants off the person. The centralaccessible space is defined within the upright structure defined by thewall or walls of the tank for holding flushing fluid.

An emergency shower apparatus may comprise a tank for holding a flushingfluid, the tank enclosing a central accessible space for a person, adischarge unit for flushing fluid, the discharge unit being fluidlyconnected to the tank and being directed towards the central accessiblespace, a flushing fluid pump operatively connected into a conduit fordelivering flushing fluid from the tank to the discharge unit, and aflow control mechanism for ensuring adequate duration of discharge offlushing fluid through the discharge unit.

The tank of the apparatus may be supported upon the ground directly orupon a movable skid. In this way a low centre of gravity for theapparatus is achieved. Installation is easier due to there being no needto build an elevated support structure to achieve a head for gravityfeed, and a reinforcement of the site to accept such an elevated supportto raise the tank to a height is avoided.

In embodiments the side wall of the tank defining the enclosure issubstantially “U” or “C”-shaped, surrounding an occupant of thecompartment except for a gap for access/egress.

In a simple embodiment the shower enclosure has a rectilinear footprint,for example the base may square. The shower enclosure of this embodimentis formed with three upstanding side walls aligned with three sides ofthe square base and with abutting upright edges to form a sealedenclosure around the three sides. The upstanding side walls may be innerwalls of a tank having outer walls, between which inner and outer wallsthere is defined a volume for holding flushing fluid. In embodiments thetank may be assembled from a plurality of tank sections, each having aninner and an outer wall and configured to be fluidly connected directlyor indirectly to a flushing fluid discharge unit so that the overallvolume required for the specified tank capacity of flushing fluid foremergency drench use can be met by the combined volume of the respectivetank sections.

In other embodiments a polygonal structure may define the enclosurehaving an accessible space for drench-washing of personnel with aflushing fluid. The polygonal structure may be assembled from aplurality of tank sections which are fluidly connected directly orindirectly to a flushing fluid discharge unit.

In an embodiment, the tank extends upwardly from ground level. The tankis fluidly connected with an elevated flushing fluid discharge unit fordischarging a flushing fluid into the enclosure. In all embodiments thebulk of the tank is below the height of the fluid distribution meansparticularly the flushing fluid discharge unit. This configurationprovides a stable structure by lowering the centre of gravity. Theflushing fluid discharge unit may comprise one or more drench showerheads. The flushing fluid discharge unit may be positioned at a heightexceeding average human height so that in use discharged flushing fluidachieves a downwards washing effect to remove contamination or hazardousmaterials from the person towards ground level. The flushing fluiddischarge unit may comprise at least one shower head or at least onespray nozzle fluidly connected to the tank by suitable pipework or otherfluid distribution system.

In a preferred embodiment the shower is mounted on a movable skid base.The skid base may be formed to provide a shower tray with drainagefacility and a fluid trap volume for capture of contaminated flushingfluid for subsequent safe disposal or remediation of the flushing fluidfor recycling. Alternatively the flushing fluid could be recirculatedthrough a filter to remove contaminants and return the fluid to the tankfor reuse. This feature extends the operational use of the unit bycontinually reusing the fluid in the tank.

The skid base may incorporate a fluid separator, and may house filtersfor removal of contaminants.

An electric pump may be used to deliver flushing fluid to the flushingfluid discharge unit.

An electric heater may be used to maintain an acceptable temperature ofthe flushing fluid.

A renewable energy apparatus may be used to power the electric pump andheater at sites where an electricity supply is not available. A solarpanel arrangement together with a charge storage device may be used forexample.

An embodiment of the emergency shower will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a known elevated tank shower;

FIG. 2 is a view from the front of an emergency drench shower facilityas disclosed herein;

FIG. 3 is a view from above the emergency drench shower facilityillustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view from one side of the emergency drench shower facilityillustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3; and

FIG. 5 is a view from the opposite side of the emergency drench showerfacility illustrated in FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 3 a walk-in emergency drench shower enclosure 10is constructed from three tank wall sections 11, 12, 13. These wallsections are upstanding from the ground 100 (FIG. 2), and arranged toabut in a “C” or “U” configuration (FIG. 3), wherein the three tank wallsections 11, 12, 13 have inner side walls 21, 22, 23 which togetherdefine an internal area serving as an accessible space for a person tostand for the purpose of drench-washing the person with a flushingfluid.

Referring to FIG. 2, the standing area surface may be formed as a showertray 14 which is raised above ground level 100. The tray may cover acatchment zone 15 which may be a sufficient volume within a bundedpallet for containment of contaminated flushing fluid to be subsequentlyremediated such that contaminants can be safely disposed of withinrecommended regulations and recommendations for safe environmentalpractices.

An overhead flushing fluid discharge unit 30 is positioned centrally andfed by a flushing fluid delivery conduit 29 and riser 28. Anelectrically powered fluid pump 27 is provided to deliver flushing fluidto the overhead flushing fluid discharge unit 30. The flushing fluiddischarge unit 30 may comprise a large diameter shower head 26, ormultiple nozzles, for drenching a person with flushing fluid.

Each tank wall section 11, 12, 13 provides a reservoir volume for aflushing fluid, which volume is confined between inner wall 21, 22, 23,and outer wall 31, 32, 33 surfaces, and is substantially below theheight of the flushing fluid discharge unit.

A flushing fluid flow maintenance (“stay open” type) and level controlsystem which may include a float and link arm assembly may be includedwithin at least one of the tank wall sections 11, 12, 13.

An electric heater may be installed to moderate the temperature of theflushing fluid. Alternatively a heat exchanger may be utilised for thesame purpose.

The emergency drench shower enclosure 10 may be skid mounted fortransport and ease of deployment with instant operational capability.

In embodiments a renewable energy system for delivering electrical powerwould be operatively associated with the emergency drench shower. Theuse of solar panels, or wind power devices, with associated chargestorage devices is contemplated.

1. A shower enclosure comprising a tank for holding a flushing fluid andan accessible space for drench-washing of personnel with the flushingfluid, wherein the enclosure is defined at least in part by at least oneside wall of the tank.
 2. The shower enclosure of claim 1, furthercomprising a discharge unit for flushing fluid, the discharge unit beingfluidly connected to the tank.
 3. The shower enclosure of claim 2,wherein the discharge unit is directed towards the central accessiblespace.
 4. The shower enclosure of claim 2, wherein the discharge unitcomprises one or more shower heads or spray nozzles provided over theaccessible space.
 5. The shower enclosure of claim 2, further comprisinga fluid pump operatively connected into a conduit for deliveringflushing fluid from the tank to the discharge unit.
 6. The showerenclosure of claim 2 further comprising a flow control mechanism forensuring adequate duration of discharge of flushing fluid through thedischarge unit.
 7. The shower enclosure of claim 2, wherein thedischarge unit is mounted in an elevated position in relation to thetank to achieve a downwards washing effect to remove contamination froman occupant of the shower.
 8. The shower enclosure of claim 1 whereinthe enclosure is defined by three side walls of the tank.
 9. The showerenclosure of claim 8, wherein the side walls of the tank define asubstantially U or C-shaped enclosure surrounding an occupant of thecompartment.
 10. The shower enclosure of claim 8, wherein the shower hasa rectilinear footprint.
 11. The shower enclosure of claim 10, whereinthe shower has a base which is square.
 12. The shower enclosure of claim1, wherein the shower enclosure has a polygonal structure.
 13. Theshower enclosure of claim 1 wherein the tank may comprise a plurality oftank sections, each section having an inner wall and an outer wallbetween which is defined a volume for holding flushing fluid.
 14. Theshower enclosure of any of the preceding claims claim 1, furthercomprising a removable skid upon which the tank is supported.
 15. Theshower enclosure according to claim 14, wherein the removable skid isformed to provide a shower tray with drainage facilities.
 16. The showerenclosure of claim 15, further comprising a fluid trap connected to thedrainage facilities for subsequent safe disposal or remediation of thefluid for recycling.
 17. The shower enclosure according to claim 16further comprising a filter for removing contaminants from the fluid.18. The shower enclosure according to claim 1 further comprising aheater to regulate the temperature of the flushing fluid.
 19. The showerenclosure according to claim 1 further comprising a pump to deliverfluid from the tank into the enclosure.
 20. The shower enclosure ofclaim 18, further comprising a renewable energy apparatus connectable tothe pump to provide power where an electricity supply is not available,and wherein the renewable energy device is a solar panel arrangement anda charge storage device. 21-22. (canceled)